Pleasure-railway.



PATENTED SEPT. 5, 1905.

J. A. MAYHEW.

PLEASURE RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED 0012s, 1904.

SHEET l.

3 SHEETS lNvENTOR. J amesdayhew BY /wab ATT'Y'5- wlTNEss as Gg.

munlw l ama co. wormmmamnsu mammina a c.

No. 798,615. PATENTBD SEPT. 5, 1905. J. A. MAYHBW.

PLEASURE RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 28. 1904.

B FIG. s.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES. lNvENToR'.-

CL. .mw James ANB haw ggg/ www A ATT'Y'S.

N0- 798,615. PATENTED SEPT. 5, 1905. J. A. MAYHEW. PLEASURE RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 28, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

(D CQ IQ (2 u (C\)2\./L v

O` O v Q2 o? WITNESSSS INVENTOR amwe. J ames A. Mayhew .gg/ww( MW WML ATT'Y'S.

. UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICF.

JAMES A. IAYHFV, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO CARL ROBERTS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

PLEASURE-RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1905.

Application tiled October 2S, 1904. Serial No. 230,348.

Missouri, have invented a cei'tain new and usei ful Improvement in Pleasure-Railways, of.

which the following is a full, cleai', and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the ai't to which it appertains to make and use the saine, reference being' had to the accompanying drawings, foi'iiiing' part of this specification. in which-- Figui'e l is a top plan view of a pleasiii'erailway constructed in accordance with niy invention. Fig'. 2 is a side elevational view of the saine. Fig'. 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig'. et is a crosssectional view on the line i t of Fig. l. Fig'. 5 is a pei'spective view of a switch for increasing' the voltage of the cui'i'ent to one of the conductors. Fig'. 6 is a bottoni pei'spective view of the switch-bridge, and Fig'. T is a diagraniniatical view showingl the relative arrangement of the circuits and their coperating' elements.

This invention relates to pleasure-railways; and one of the objects thereof is to provide a pliii'ality of tracks on which suitable objects, such as cars, ai'e adapted to be propelled partly by an electi'ic current and partly by g'i'avity or entirely by electricity, as the case iiiay be, a niotor receiving current through a trolley froiii a suitable conductoi', each conductor being' ladapted to receive a current of relatively high voltage, so as to accelerate the speed of the car passing' ovei' a particular track.

Anotherobject of the invention is to pi'ovide ineans whereby the cars may be conveniently shunted froin the niain tracks for the purpose of permitting loading` or unloadingl of the ears.

Other objects and advantages, as well as the novel details of construction of this invention, will be niorespeciiically described hereinaftei', it being' understood that cliang'es in the forni,

proportion, and iiiiiioi' details of construction i niay be resorted to without depai'ting' fi'oin I the spirit or sacrificinganyof the advantages l tliei'eof.

In the pi'efei'red forro of iiiy invention, as illustrated in the accompanying' drawings, 1

designates a base suitably supported above the earth by the colunins 2. This base supports a plurality of approximately elliptical bridge two of the contacts on the disk QQ.

i QT, cai'i'ied by tliedisk tracks 3. At the starting' end of the tracks 55 ai'e shunts one for each track, which serve as siding's to pei'iiiit the propelled objects or cars to be nioved oil' of the niain track-Was, for example, when the ears ai'e being lillcd. Intei'posed between the siding and its inain track is a raised platfoi'iii 5, having openings 6 and T leading' onto stairways beneath the platforni` whereby the passengers niay eiitei' and leave.

In oi'dei' to illustrate the invention, I have shown the propelled objects as comprising' cai's S. These cars niay be propelled by any suitable iiiotoi' through the uiediuiii of the trolley 9 on the coiidiictoi' 10 in the conduit 11. In the pi'eseiit application I have shown three tracks with a corresponding' nuniber of ears. The tracks on one side of the platfoi'ni ai'e provided with raised portions I2, the upwai'd inclination of which begins adjacent to the starting-point for each car. The cars may be raised ovei' this portion 12, and the nionientuni obtained thereby in descending' will assist in the pleasure of the occupants of the vehicle in passing' ovei' the platfoi'in. In order to obviate any liability of the cartiltiiig or becoming'derailed in rounding the cui've at the end 13 of the platfoi'in, I provide giiai'd-O i'ails I-i, which ai'e secured to the partitions 15, dividing the several tracks.

Current is supplied to the conductors l0 freni a niain conductor-wire Y16, through the bi'ancli wires lT, IS, and It), in each of which is a resistance-coil 2i). The resistance-coil 2O is placed in the path ofthe current passing' through said wires 1T, 1S, and 19, so as to i'educe the voltage entering the conductors 10, froni which the inotors on the cars S are energized, the wiring on the cars S being' ai'- rang'ed in any well-known nianiiei', and aftei' passing' through the iiiotoi'stlie ciii'i'eiit niay be gi'oiinded.

On a suitable standard Q1 is a switch-disk 22, having spaced contacts arranged in pairs, each alternate contact 23 being' connected to one of the conductors 10 and each alternate contact 24. being' connected up to a rheostat Q5, which rheostat is in turn connected to the iiiain conductor-wire I6 through the niediuni of the branch wire '26. Rotatable on a spindle ")0 is a flanged disk QS,

IOO

having' an inner facingof insulation LIS) and cai'- rying' a nietallic contact-bridge 30,sullicient to This bridge-'carrying disk is provided with handles 81, so that the same may be rotated to cause the bridge 3() to bridge any two of the contacts, and thereby causing the current to [low directly from the conductor 16 through any one of the wires 17, 18, or 19, connected to any one of the contacts 23, into a particular conductor 10, and after passing' through the motor to the ground to the source of energy, so that the particular conductor will have a voltage equal to the difference between the voltage which existed in the main conductor 1G and that obstructed by the presence of the resistance 25. This increased voltage Would propel the car or Object over the particular track at a greater speed than over any of the other tracks, and it is to be understood that the bridge 30 may be moved so as to bridg'e any of the contacts to cut in the circuit through one of the Wires 32, and this for the sake of clearness I Will term the secondary circuit. Of course it is to be understood that the speed of the car having the accelerated motor may be governed through the medium of the rheostat 25 under the control of the operator.

In order to make the operation of my device clear, I have shown cars applied to the tracks; but I reserve the right to use any fanciful vehicle or Wheeled object as occasion may suggest. I also reserve the right to dispense With the inclined portion 12 of each,

track and instead thereof run the entire track level, or substantially so, Without departing from my invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a pleasure-railway, the` combination with a plurality of tracks, trolley-Wires coperating with said tracks, Wheeled bodies having movement over the tracks and provided with motors receiving energy through the trolley-Wires, a main conductor for supplying' electricity to all of the trolley-Wires through primary circuits, each circuit supplying the same voltage to the respective trolley-wires, secondary circuits of greater voltage than that of the primary circuits, and means for cutting in one of the secondary circuits; substantially as described.

2. In a pleasure-railway, the combination with a plurality of tracks, trolley-wires coperating With said tracks, Wheeled bodies having movement over the tracks and provided with motors receiving energy through the trolley-Wires, a main conductor for supplying electricity to all of the trolley-Wires through primary circuits, each circuit supplying the same voltage to the respective trolley-Wires, secondary circuits of greater voltage than that of the primary circuits, and means for cutting in one of the secondary circuits, said means comprising a disk having spaced contacts and a bridge-piece for bridging the contacts; substantially as described.

3. In a pleasure-railway, the combination with a plurality of tracks, trolley-Wires coperating with said tracks, wheeled bodies having movement over the tracks and provided with motors receiving energy through the trolley-wires, a main conductor for supplying electricity to all of the trolley-Wires through primary circuits, each circuit supplying the same voltage to the respective trolley-wires, secondary circuits of greater voltage than that of the primary circuits, and means for cutting in one of the secondary circuits, said means comprising a disk having spaced contacts and a rotatable bridge for spacing the contacts; substantially as described.

4. In a pleasure-railway, the combination With a plurality of tracks, trolley-Wires coperating with said tracks, wheeled bodies having movement over the tracks and provided with motors receiving energy through the trolley-Wires, a main conductor for supplying electricity to all of the trolley-Wires through primary circuits, each circuit supplying the same voltage to the respective trolley-Wires, secondary circuits of greater voltage than that of the primary circuits, and means for cutting in one of the secondary circuits, said means comprising a disk having spaced contacts, a rotatable disk above the first-named disk and having an insulated facing, and a metallic bridge carried by the insulated facing for spacing two of the contacts; substantially as described.

5. In a pleasure-railway, the combination with a plurality of tracks, trolley-Wires coperating With said tracks, Wheeled bodies having movement over the tracks and provided with motors receiving energy through the trolley-wires, a main conductor for supplying electricity to all of the trolley-Wires through primary circuits, each circuit supplying the same voltage to the respective trolley-Wires, secondary circuits of greater voltage than that of the primary circuits, and means for cutting in one of the secondary circuits, said means comprising a disk having spaced contacts, a flanged rotatable disk above the firstnamed disk and having an insulated facing, and a metallic bridge carried by the insulated facing for spacing two of the contacts; substantially as described.

6. In a pleasure-railway, the combination with a plurality of approximately elliptical tracks, each of which is provided with a portion on one side in a plane higher than the plane of the remaining portion of the tracks, cars propelled over said tracks, guard-rails at the curves in the tracks and lying in planes above the planes of the top of the Wheels of the cars, a siding for each track, and a platform between the siding and main track having inlet and outlet openings communicating With stairways; substantially as described.

7. In a pleasure-railway, the combination with a platform having a plurality of substan- IOG tially elliptical tracks, a siding at one curved end et' each track, partitions between the respective tracks, and a platform haviiig inlet and outlet openings and interposed between each siding and each main track; substantially 1 I peiling anyone of the iiioring bodies over its as described.

8. The coiiibiiiatmn with a pliiralit)v el" tracks, ot circuits of the same elcctroniotive of the tracks, secondary circuits of greater electromotire force, and a switch 'for throwing' in any one ot' the secondaiyY circuits te i tracks, of circuits of the same electroiiiotive force for propelling iiioving bodies over each ol' the tracks, secondariY circuits of greater electroiiiotive force, and a switch for throwing' iii any of the secondary circuits for proparticiilar track at a speed greater than the speed et' the moving bodies traveling' over the force for propelling' moving' bodies over each l propel one of the movingl bodies over one ol the tracks at a greater speed than the speed et' travel ot' the moving' bodiesover the reiiiaiiiingl tracks; siibstantiall)v as described.

9. 'llie combination with a plurality of remaining' tracks; siibstantialbY as described.

ln testimony whereot` I hereunto aix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this Qth day ot' October, 190i.

J AMES A. UAYHElV.

\\"itiiesses:

B. F. FUNK, Geenen BAiimviiLi.. 

